Michele Martin has been named VP and associate publisher for Simon & Schuster’s Gallery Books Group.

Martin worked at the publisher from 1994 until 1999, serving as associate publisher at the Simon & Schuster imprint. Publisher Louise Burke explained the move in a memo:

Michele most recently founded and ran MDM Management, which will now be assumed by CSG Literary Partners.  Michele has also held positions as Executive Vice President at Avalon, at Langenscheidt and Doubleday, where she created and oversaw the Main Street Books imprint. Michele’s wide-ranging experience in sales, marketing and general management of a variety of imprints, and in publishing both fiction and nonfiction will serve the Gallery, Pocket and Threshold imprints well. In this position she will work closely with Gallery Books Publisher, Jennifer Bergstrom, Publicity Director, Jennifer Robinson and our newly-appointed Marketing Director, Liz Psaltis.

Today Simon & Schuster announced that they will unite two imprints–Pocket Books hardcover and trade paperbacks, and Simon Spotlight Entertainment–into a single imprint called Gallery Books.

In a memo, CEO Carolyn Reidy explained the changes: “Gallery will be an immediate leader in those areas where Pocket Books and SSE have already forged well-earned reputations, such as women’s fiction, pop culture and entertainment. As with our other imprints, Gallery will also operate with a mandate to acquire top authors and hot prospects in a broad range of publishing categories, both fiction and nonfiction.”

With the changes, Pocket Books’ Louise Burke will now serve as publisher at Gallery. Anthony Ziccardi will be the imprint’s VP and deputy publisher, while Jen Bergstrom will serve as editor-in-chief. They intend to launch the new imprint in Spring 2010. Click here to read a PDF copy of a staff memo from Burke about the changes.